Opening/closing operation device for vehicle open/close door

Abstract

In an opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door, a handle and a lever for transmitting an unlock operation force to a latch mechanism are turnably supported by an open/close door, and one end portion of the lever is brought into contact with a contact surface formed in the handle. In the contact surface, at least a portion to be in contact with the one end portion of the lever at an initial stage of the manipulation of the handle is formed in an inclined manner or curvedly: in a way that makes the portion situated more forward in a movement direction, in which the contact surface moves in response to the turn of the handle, as the portion comes closer to a rotary fulcrum of the lever in a direction along a plane orthogonal to the movement direction such that the portion intersects the plane.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door, comprising:
 a handle having a first end attached to the open/close door and a second end having a guide arm portion extending into the open/close door, the handle configured to swing about the first end when an opening operation force is exerted on the handle such that the second end of the handle including the guide arm portion is displaced from a first position to a second position in the direction of the opening operation force; 
 a latch mechanism configured to maintain a closed state of the open/close door; and 
 a lever pivotally supported by the open/close door, the lever including a first arm portion received within an opening provided in the guide arm portion and a second arm portion configured to transmit the opening operation force to the latch mechanism, 
 wherein a contacting tip of the first arm portion is in contact with a contact surface formed on an inside surface of the opening provided in the guide arm portion and is configured to slide along the contact surface from an initial-stage contact portion to a latter stage contact portion as the handle is displaced from the first position to the second position thereby causing the lever to pivot, 
 wherein the initial-stage contact portion is disposed closer to an exterior of the open/close door than the latter stage contact portion, and 
 wherein the latter-stage contact portion is formed continuously with the initial-stage contact portion along the contact surface and in a plane orthogonal to the movement direction of the guide arm portion such that the latter-stage contact portion comes into contact with the contacting tip of the first arm portion of the lever at a latter stage of the manipulation of the handle. 
 
     
     
       2. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the handle integrally has a grip portion disposed on an outer side of a panel included in the open/close door, and a base end portion of the guide arm portion is provided continuously with the grip portion, the contact surface being formed on a tip end side of the guide arm portion, the contact surface facing the grip portion, 
 a base member is attached to the panel, the base member having: an insertion hole in which the guide arm portion is moveably inserted; and a lever supporting portion which turnably supports the lever via a pivot, 
 the lever supporting portion is formed of a pair of side walls which are disposed respectively on opposite sides of the lever and which respectively have coaxial supporting holes for inserting and supporting opposite end portions of the pivot penetrating a pivot hole provided in the lever, 
 an assembly guide portion and a stopper are disposed between both of the side walls and are provided in the base member, the assembly guide portion guiding a manner in which the lever, to which a return spring is assembled with one end portion of the return spring engaging with the lever, is pushed into a space between both of the side walls such that another end portion of the return spring engages with one of the side walls with the first arm portion of the lever coming in contact with the contact surface, the return spring provided between the lever supporting portion and the lever such that the lever turns and biases in a direction in which the first arm portion of the lever is brought into contact with the contact surface, and the stopper restricting the lever, which is pushed into the space between both of the side walls, at a position that makes the pivot hole correspond to the supporting holes of the side walls, and 
 a turning position of the lever, which is pushed into the space between both of the side walls until being restricted by the stopper and which is turned and biased by a spring force exerted by the return spring, is restricted by the contact of the lever with the contact surface and the base member. 
 
     
     
       3. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 2 , wherein a protrusion and a spring supporting portion are provided in a side wall of the pair of side walls with which the other end portion of the return spring engages, the protrusion hooking the other end portion of the return spring when the lever, to which the return spring is assembled, is pushed into the space between both of the side walls while being guided by the assembly guide portion, the spring supporting portion causing the other end portion of the return spring to be unhooked from the protrusion and to slide while maintaining an engaged state as the lever is pushed into the space between both of the side walls while being guided by the assembly guide portion. 
     
     
       4. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 2 , wherein the assembly guide portion is provided in the base member such that the assembly guide portion covers, from above, at least a portion of the spring on the panel side, with the base member attached to the open/close door. 
     
     
       5. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the first end of the handle is swingingly supported by a panel, the handle having grip portion disposed on an outer side of the panel forming at least part of the open/close door, 
 a fitting groove, to which an edge portion of a through-hole is fitted, is provided in one of an upper portion and a lower portion of a base member being attached to the panel and integrally having: a base member main portion having an insertion hole in which the guide arm portion is inserted; and a guide portion provided continuously with the base member main portion so as to guide the guide arm portion inserted in the insertion hole, the through-hole provided in the panel with at least the guide portion inserted therein, and the contact surface formed in a tip end side of the guide arm portion, 
 an engagement groove opened in a direction opposite to an opening direction of the fitting groove is provided in the other one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the base member, and 
 an attachment member able to be fastened to the base member with at least the panel interposed between the attachment member and the base member main portion is engaged with the engagement groove with the position thereof relative to the base member in an up-down direction being restricted by the slide of the attachment member on a back surface of the panel while in slide contact with the back surface of the panel. 
 
     
     
       6. The open operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 5 , wherein
 a position restriction recess portion opened in one horizontal direction is provided in one of the base member and the attachment member, and 
 a position restriction protruding portion is provided in the other one of the base member and the attachment member, the position restriction protruding portion engaging with the position restriction recess portion when the attachment member engages with the engagement groove and thereby restricting the position of the attachment member relative to the base member in the up-down direction. 
 
     
     
       7. The open operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the attachment member is formed extending between opposite end portions of the handle in a longitudinal direction, and 
 an engagement arm portion is provided in the attachment member, the engagement arm portion being engageable from above with the handle supporting portion which protrudes to an inner side of the panel such that the handle supporting portion turnably supports the one end portion of the handle. 
 
     
     
       8. The open operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 5 , wherein
 an engagement protruding portion engaging with the engagement groove is provided integrally to the attachment member, and 
 a restriction protruding portion is projectingly provided to a back surface of a sealing member interposed between at least a peripheral edge portion of the base member main portion and an outer surface of the panel, the restriction protruding portion engaging with the attachment member so as to restrict the movement of the attachment member in a sliding direction in which the attachment member engages with engagement groove while in slide contact with the back surface of the panel. 
 
     
     
       9. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 5 , wherein a cylinder lock attachment portion protectingly surrounding a cylinder lock is provided integrally to the attachment member with the cylinder lock attached thereto. 
     
     
       10. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 3 , wherein the assembly guide portion is provided in the base member such that the assembly guide portion covers, from above, at least a portion of the spring on the panel side, with the base member attached to the open/close door. 
     
     
       11. The opening/closing operation device for a vehicle open/close door according to  claim 1 , wherein the contacting tip is in contact with the initial-stage contact portion when the handle is in the first position and is in contact with the latter-stage contact portion when the handle is in the second position.